Regional Food Items Infographic

This is getting funnier & funnier.

WarToad

wanderingjew
 
.... 
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Tortilla_Taco_history.htm
This explains the history of the fish taco. If you've read the one of the Stern's earlier books which included Rubio's before it became the chain that it is today, it does indicate that Ralph Rubio brought the fish taco from Baja to San Diego. 
  

Baja being Mexico, that makes sense.  And I'd be surprised that he just didn't make it to mainland coastal Mexico and see that seafood taco's were there too.  Kinda like saying some guy brought pizza back from Napoli, not realizing it was practiaclly everywhere else too.
 
I sent an email to my Mexican work friends about fajita's, see what they have to say.

 
Well,
 
one can argue that 99% of regional food did not originate in the US  (even bbq)
so, I guess you can't really nit pick on whether something originated in the US or not.              

*cough*neverstoppedyoubeforewhyshoulditnow*cough*

/me applauds Stricken Detective

Too bad the upcoming editing of the infograph could not be at a donation rate to raise money for charity.
 
Edit the infograph and fight hunger across America!!!

I could care less about where the food type originated. Pizza and hamburgers are absolutely everywhere as it seems are Philly cheesesteaks now in about every bar/grill in the USA. Same with BBQ, fajitas, burritos and tacos. I'm more interested in regional foods that can only be found in certain regions in any assured abundance and maybe would have less than a 5% chance where I live. It seems just about every food type can be found everywhere if you search hard enough. For instance Nebraska and Illinois are not that far from Minnesota but I have yet to find a runza or horseshoe served in the Twin Cities. However, I once thought the same about the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich but now have identified nearly 30 restaurants serving them in the Twin Cities. Corn bread the southern staple? Common in the Twin Cities but interestingly not grits.

Davydd


I could care less about where the food type originated. Pizza and hamburgers are absolutely everywhere as it seems are Philly cheesesteaks now in about every bar/grill in the USA. Same with BBQ, fajitas, burritos and tacos. I'm more interested in regional foods that can only be found in certain regions in any assured abundance and maybe would have less than a 5% chance where I live. It seems just about every food type can be found everywhere if you search hard enough. For instance Nebraska and Illinois are not that far from Minnesota but I have yet to find a runza or horseshoe served in the Twin Cities. However, I once thought the same about the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich but now have identified nearly 30 restaurants serving them in the Twin Cities. Corn bread the southern staple? Common in the Twin Cities but interestingly not grits.

 
Ok,
 
I see your point, but if that's the case, then why haven't the Stern's written about that great pizza place in The Twin Cities, but seem for the most part to concentrate specifically on NYC and New Haven when it comes to Pizza?

because they're regionally biased? :)

I can't speak for the Sterns other than to say they haven't been to Minnesota enough to keep current IMO. But getting back to your per capita examples you cited for Jewish delis, I would be willing to bet the Twin Cities has more Neapolitan wood-fired pizzerias per capita than New York or New Haven. Anyway, pizza is everywhere and of course you know rightfully it should be shown on the Infographic to come from Gary, Indiana.

Davydd
 

I would be willing to bet the Twin Cities has more Neapolitan wood-fired pizzerias per capita than New York or New Haven. 

 
yes, made by blond haired folk of Nordic descent who "s-oh-nd just like the people on the nooooze"

I...uhh...added this note to the front page here:
http://eatingtheroad.wikispaces.com/Regional+Foods

"A regional food shall be clarified as either having been originated from a specific area and thus still being strongly associated with that region, regardless if it can be found elsewhere, like the Philly Cheesesteak or a food that can only be found in a certain location (for the most part) as in poi and Hawaii."

wanderingjew

Davydd
 

I would be willing to bet the Twin Cities has more Neapolitan wood-fired pizzerias per capita than New York or New Haven. 

 
yes, made by blond haired folk of Nordic descent who "s-oh-nd just like the people on the nooooze"

You betcha! And you need to get up da North Shore to Grand Marais and try Sven & Ole's Pizza.

Trattoria Zero Otto Nove in the Bronx has Neapolitan wood-fired pizza and made it to the Forbes Traveler list for America's Best Pizza. 

Isn't the Bronx more than 5 minutes or was it 5 miles away?

Okay so I've added quite a few items...I've at least one from each state although some were very hard to find things for (Nevada...Wyoming).

http://eatingtheroad.wikispaces.com/Regional+Foods

I know there will be a lot of debate...and I didn't even really touch the barbecue items.

Feel free to add your own and change things around a little.

bill voss


Isn't the Bronx more than 5 minutes or was it 5 miles away?

Next time I am in California we can go to bingo or something!! Gotta get my West America passport updated.

Come on folks... add to the site!

I've done mine.  

mar52


Come on folks... add to the site!

I've done mine.  

Give me time,

I will, I already noticed a correction
 
Fry Sauce for Arizona, shoudl actually belong to Utah

For both Minnesota and Wisconsin you have 'beer battered lakefish"  listed. In Minnesota it is primarily walleye and in Wisconsin it is primarily perch and some walleye. You'll rarely find perch served in Minnesota restaurants. At home the many fishermen will pan fry all kinds of fresh water lake fish including crappies, sunfish, bluegills, bass, etc. but these varieties would rarely be served in restaurants. Even though just about every restaurant in Minnesota will serve a walleye sandwich, all the walleye are imported from Canada. Few are actually beer battered but usually breaded or dipped in egg and flour. But lakefish?

I don't have a clue as to what "funeral potatoes" are but I did just have wild rice and mushroom soup last night (homemade).

mar52


Come on folks... add to the site!

I've done mine.  

CC <---added Sponge Candy for Buffalo. Italian Hot Dogs for Newark.
  
 

Davydd


For both Minnesota and Wisconsin you have 'beer battered lakefish"  listed. In Minnesota it is primarily walleye and in Wisconsin it is primarily perch and some walleye.

And here I thought it was beer battered Lutefisk!

For Maryland:

coddies
stuffed ham
pit beef sandwiches
 
For Florida:
rock shrimp
 

wanderingjew

WarToad

wanderingjew
 
.... 
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Tortilla_Taco_history.htm
This explains the history of the fish taco. If you've read the one of the Stern's earlier books which included Rubio's before it became the chain that it is today, it does indicate that Ralph Rubio brought the fish taco from Baja to San Diego. 
  

Baja being Mexico, that makes sense.  And I'd be surprised that he just didn't make it to mainland coastal Mexico and see that seafood taco's were there too.  Kinda like saying some guy brought pizza back from Napoli, not realizing it was practiaclly everywhere else too.
 
I sent an email to my Mexican work friends about fajita's, see what they have to say.

 
Well,
 
one can argue that 99% of regional food did not originate in the US  (even bbq)
so, I guess you can't really nit pick on whether something originated in the US or not.              

 
OK, I cc'ed in 4x Mexican peers re: fajita's and here's their responses.
 
1x said it was an Northern Mexican food from cattle country but conceeded tex-mex border foods have a lot of give and take and he really didn't know.  Or care. (He's kind of an upscale high culture foodie)
 
2x thought fajita's were a Tex-Mex border hybred and impossible to tell where it started.
 
1x thought it was "Gringo food, but pretty good Gringo food." (said tongue in cheek)

So there it is.  Difinitively unknown or undecided.

Beer battered fish? Not here.

EatingTheRoad


I...uhh...added this note to the front page here:
http://eatingtheroad.wikispaces.com/Regional+Foods

"A regional food shall be clarified as either having been originated from a specific area and thus still being strongly associated with that region, regardless if it can be found elsewhere, like the Philly Cheesesteak or a food that can only be found in a certain location (for the most part) as in poi and Hawaii."

What about ethnic food that was incorporated into the fabric of regional food?
I'll cite several examples
Like I mentioned previously- Fish Tacos that came up from Baja Mexico but became popular in the US through San Diego
 
Pasties- brought by Cornish Miners to the U.P. of Michigan as well as Butte Montana
 
Basque Food- Very popular in both Northern Nevada and Southern Idaho as well as Central California which is where the Basque settled.

wanderingjew

EatingTheRoad


I...uhh...added this note to the front page here:
http://eatingtheroad.wikispaces.com/Regional+Foods

"A regional food shall be clarified as either having been originated from a specific area and thus still being strongly associated with that region, regardless if it can be found elsewhere, like the Philly Cheesesteak or a food that can only be found in a certain location (for the most part) as in poi and Hawaii."

What about ethnic food that was incorporated into the fabric of regional food?
I'll cite several examples
Like I mentioned previously- Fish Tacos that came up from Baja Mexico but became popular in the US through San Diego
 
Pasties- brought by Cornish Miners to the U.P. of Michigan as well as Butte Montana
 
Basque Food- Very popular in both Northern Nevada and Southern Idaho as well as Central California which is where the Basque settled.

That is a good point too. This is all open to interpretation (as can be seen above :P), feel free to jump in a change stuff around. I've already made a bunch of changes. I love the collaborative nature of it.

http://eatingtheroad.wikispaces.com/Regional+Foods

BBQed pork steaks and toasted ravioli and gooy-butter cake for dessert.

oops! forgot to say these goodies are from the St. Louis area

Tamales are pretty much Delta food, while catfish is everywhere.

wanderingjew

EatingTheRoad


I...uhh...added this note to the front page here:
http://eatingtheroad.wikispaces.com/Regional+Foods

"A regional food shall be clarified as either having been originated from a specific area and thus still being strongly associated with that region, regardless if it can be found elsewhere, like the Philly Cheesesteak or a food that can only be found in a certain location (for the most part) as in poi and Hawaii."

What about ethnic food that was incorporated into the fabric of regional food?
I'll cite several examples
Like I mentioned previously- Fish Tacos that came up from Baja Mexico but became popular in the US through San Diego
 
Pasties- brought by Cornish Miners to the U.P. of Michigan as well as Butte Montana
 
Basque Food- Very popular in both Northern Nevada and Southern Idaho as well as Central California which is where the Basque settled.

 
I agree--It might be good to add to the original text something like:"...or originated elsewhere but has become strongly identified with the locale." Without such a clause, Wisconsin couldn't claim cheese or beer, Racine couldn't claim kringle, etc.
 
Overall, it seems to me that ETR is trying to pinpoint foods that are iconic of places, whether in terms of origination (Buffalo Wings in Buffalo), gateway function (fish tacos in San Diego), historical reputation (cheese and beer in Wisconsin), geographic proximity (Maine lobster in Maine), commercial prominence (coffee in Seattle), or other factors.   
  
ETR, are you really more interested in ingredients and dishes with unique origins in the geographic 50 states?
 

 

quijote, I'm really interested in anything that could only be found in a specific local (like Runzas, Slingers, etc) or something that is the iconic and the best in that local (as in New York Cheesecake, Philly Cheesesteaks, etc). Also if an area is really associated with a specific food item as in WI and cheese, CA and wine, etc.

So I've done quite a bit of work on the Wiki. All of the states have at least one item but some need help (I'm looking at you Delaware & Colorado). You can go through all the states here:
http://eatingtheroad.wikispaces.com/Regional+Foods

..also I've sorted them by category which you can see here:
http://eatingtheroad.wiki...onal+Foods+by+Category

Please feel free to make additions/changes as you see fit. Any recipes, regions, further information, pictures, places to find items, helpful hints, etc. that you can add would be awesome. I've just made everything generic for the most part. It would be great if everyone that was familiar with a particular place put in their 2 cents.

Great Thread
Jack

Thanks Jack....feel free to edit the wiki with anything you see missing or erroneous:
http://eatingtheroad.wikispaces.com/Regional+Foods

I would love to have the input of a BBQ guy.